Making Public-Private Partnership Works in Food R&D: Problems and Constrains from Thailand’s case of Food Innopolis

Authors

  • Yupaporn Yupas, Saowaluk Kosolkittiamporn, Pakdee Posing, Pornsan Piyanantisak

Abstract

Over the past decade, the number of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in Thailand has risen significantly. The ‘Thailand 4.0’ economic model and the ‘Food Innopolis’ project, a pilot project initiated to utilize PPP as a tool for research and development (R&D) in the food industry, constitute two initiatives that emphasize the role of PPP as a means of modernizing the nation’s food industry. However, despite the importance of PPP in the food-processing sector, Thailand’s academic literature has not yet discussed this management tool in sufficient detail, and the topic has received minimal discussion in Public Policy and Public Administration academic literature. This study fills this knowledge gap, discussing the role of PPP in the development of Thailand’s food industrywith particular attention to the Food Innopolis project. The purpose of this study is to investigatekey problems, constrains, and contextual limitationsin utilizing PPP in the development of the nation’s food industry as the basis for laying a course to improve them. This study employs an exploratory descriptive research design, applying qualitative methodology to portray the qualities and experiences of the study subjects to discover the real nature and characteristics of the phenomena. Qualitative data was obtained through 5 structured interviews with government officials in administrative level and 9 interviews from board members of participating private businesses in Food Innopolis project. Findings offer some insight into issues of the relationship between the public organizations and private companies involved in the project.

Published

2020-02-29

Issue

Section

Articles